Necktie holder



July 26, 1966 P. KELLNER ETAL 3,262,166

NECK'IIE HOLDER Filed Sept. 14, 1964 FIG.3

United States Patent 3,262,166 NECKTIE HOLDER Paul Kellner, New York,and Abraham Israelofl, White Plains, N.Y., assignors to Form alFashions, Inc, New York, N .Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept.14, 1964, Ser. No. 396,223 Claims. (CI. 24-49) This invention relatesgenerally to a holder for a preti-ed necktie which has the outwardappearance of a handtied conventional necktie.

Pre-tied neckties have been popular for many years, and there aretherefore available on the market today numerous different types ofpre-tied neckties. These pretied neckties are all carried by a holderwhich is adapted to be attached to the collar of the wearer in suchmanner that the neat desired appearance of the necktie is maintained.

Essentially, for a necktie holder of the type involved herein to beuseful it must be capable of easy attachment to the wearers shirt, andit must also provide means for preventing the tie from moving laterallyor pivotally relative to the shirt. The most common way of preventingthe tie from so moving is to provide the necktie holder with a pair ofdiverging wings which are adapted to fit under the collar of the wearersshirt. Such arrangement has proved to be somewhat short of satisfactoryfrom a functional and economical point of view, resulting in theelimination of the diverging wings and substitution, in lieu thereof,with friction or spring actuated means which engage the shirt collar ina way to prevent relative movement therewith. This arrangement, too, hasbeen found unsatisfactory because the friction or spring actuated meanson the necktie holder ultimately wears out, and because the cost thereofhas taken such necktie holders out of the competitive market.

In accordance with the present invention, a necktie holder has beenprovided which performs all of its required functions in a highlysatisfactory manner, overcoming the above pointed out disadvantages ofthe prior art. More specifically, in accordance with the necktie holderof the present invention, the function of preventing lateral and pivotalmovement of the pre-tied necktie is accomplished without resorting tothe use of diverging wings, and without resorting to the use of frictionor spring actuated members. Such function is performed by providingmeans on the holder for capturing the collar button so that when theholder is engaged by the wearers shirt, the cooperation between thecollar button and the holder will prevent relative movement of theholder with respect to the shirt. By utilizing the aforementioned meansfor capturing the collar button, it is possible, in accordance with thepresent invention, to provide a most satisfactory necktie holder whichdoes not require any moving parts and which is, therefore, far moreeconomical to manufacture and far less subject to wear and tear.

In accordance with another highly novel aspect of the invention, themeans for capturing the collar button are formed so as to perform thefurther function of holding the pre-tied necktie away from the wearersshirt to impart to such necktie the appearance of a normally handtiednecktie.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide agenerally improved necktie holder.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a necktie holderwhich, when attached to the wearers shirt, will be prevented from movingeither laterally or pivotally with respect thereto.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a necktie holderwhich, when attached to wearers shirt, will be prevented from movingeither laterally or pivotally with respect thereto, such beingaccomplished by means on the necktie holder which cooperate and capturethe collar button of the wears shirt.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a necktie holderwhich is adapted to be fixedly attached to a wearers shirt, withoutrequiring any moving parts to maintain such holder in such fixedattachment.

Another object is the provision of a necktie holder which holds thepre-tied necktie away from the shirt of the wearer.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more fully understood from the following descriptionconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view of a pre-tied necktie carried by the holder, inaccordance with the invention, when attached to a wears shirt;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the necktie holder in accordancewith the invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross section on an enlarged scale taken along line 55 ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a necktie holder 10 inaccordance with the invention which consists primarily of a necktiesupport member 12 and shirt collar engaging member 14. Supporting member12 is generally triangularly shaped and outwardly curved, and isangularly inclined with the lower part thereof extending most forwardlyso that the knot K of the necktie T supported by member 12 will have thecurvature, inclination and outward appearance of a normally hand-tiednecktie. The supporting member 12 is so dimensioned that when the holderis attached to the shirt, the upper corners 16 and 18 of the knot K arejust barely concealed from view by the shirt collar, as is the case in ahand-tied necktie.

Shirt collar engaging member 14 comprises an inverted U-shaped memberhaving a rear leg 20 and a front leg 22 joined together by connectingbend 24. A spacer member 26 connects member 14 to necktie supportingmember 12 in spaced relation therewith. It will be noted that rear leg20 is longer than front leg 22 and extends, in fact, .below necktiesupporting member 12 for reasons to be more fully explained hereafter.Front leg 22 is, except for its extremities, wider than rear leg 20,thus defining between said extremities an enlarged portion 28. Also, thelegs 20 and 22 are not parallel to each other, as best shown in FIG. 5,where rear leg 20 is vertically disposed and front leg 22 is at an anglethereto.

Enlarged portion 28 is provided with rearwardly projecting flanges 3t)and 32 which, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention,increase in depth in a downwardly direction and, because of thenon-parallel relation between legs 20 and 22, end edges 34 and 36 offlanges 30 and 32, respectively, run parallel to rear leg 20.

When the wearer is ready to attach necktie holder 10, all he needs do isto pass rear leg 20 rearwardly over the top of the neck band, and suchstep is greatly facilitated by the added length thereof. If the wearermerely centers the holder and passes said rear leg 20 immediately abovethe collar button, he can then move the entire holder in a downwarddirection and, in doing so, the collar button 38 will automatically becaptured between flanges 30 and 32. The member 10 is moved downwardlyuntil the bend 24 is engaged by the upper edge of the shirt collar. Itwill be noted that almost immediately after inserting rear leg 20rearwardly of the collar and moving such leg downwardly, the collarbutton will be captured between the flanges 30 and 32, and these willguide the further movement of the holder and insure that the latter willbe centered on the wearers shirt. As best shown in FIG. 6, the spacingbetween flanges 30 and 32 is just slightly greater than the diameter ofthe conventional collar button, leaving just enough clearance betweenthe button and the flanges to permit the easy attachment of the necktieholder. This clearance, however, is small enough to prevent anysignificant play between the necktie holder and the collar button.

The capturing of collar button 38 between flanges 30 and 32 coupled withthe engagement of the upper edge of the shirt collar within bend 24constitutes a three point engagement of holder with the wearers shirt S.Thus, the holder 10, when so engaged, is fixed against relative movementwhether lateral or pivotal, clearly fulfilling the aforestated objectsof the invention. More specifically, the holder 10 as described aboverequires no moving parts which are subject to wear and tear, and whethermade of plastic or metal, can be molded or formed as a one-pieceintegral unit, substantially reducing the manufacturing cost.

In addition to the features described above, holder 10, by virtue of itsspecial construction, also performs the function of holding the pre-tiednecktie away from the wearers shirt. More specifically, and with specialreference to FIG. 5, it will be recalled that it is highly desirable tomaintain necktie support member 12 in a forwardly inclined position inorder to impart to the necktie the appearance of a hand-tied necktie.

There is, however, a natural tendency on the part of a necktie holder tocollapse against the wearers shirt and thus interfere with the desiredappearance of the necktie. It is primarily to overcome the effects ofsuch tendency that flanges 30 and 32 have been provided with the varyingwidth feature described above. More particularly, it will be noted thatthe tendency of support member to collapse will be resisted by flanges30 and 32 which will function as stops against the wearers shirt andthus prevent such collapse. The variable width feature is provided so asto present edges 34 and 36 as vertical stops against the wearers body.Of course, the need for variable width flanges could be dispensed withif front leg 22 were parallel to rear leg and, if such were the case,uniform width flanges would also present vertically disposed edges tothe wearer. It has been found, however, that the bulk of necktiematerial between necktie support member 12 and leg 22 prevents thelatter from remaining vertical, if spacer member 26 is to be of thedesired length. All factors considered, therefore, it has been foundmost desirable to have front leg 22 angularly disposed to the verticaland to rear leg 20, and to vary the width of the flanges 30 and 32 inorder to define vertical stops and in that way maintain the supportmember in the desired forwardly inclined position.

Thus, it is seen that the improved necktie holder described above fullyaccomplishes the various above stated objects of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

'1. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

one of said legs being provided with means for capturing the collarbutton of a wearers shirt when said shirt collar is received in thespace therefor between said legs and for retaining said button betweensaid one leg and said shirt collar. 2. A necktie holder for use inconjunction with a pretied necktie comprising:

5 a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

the frontmost of said legs being provided With a pair of oppositeflanges extending toward the rearmost of said legs whereby to capturetherebetween the collar button of a wearers shirt when said shirt collaris received in the space therefor between said legs. 3. A necktie holderfor use in conjunction with a pre- 20 tied necktie comprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

the frontmost of said legs being provided with a pair of oppositeflanges extending toward the rearmost of said legs whereby to capturetherebetween the collar button of a wearers shirt when said shirt collaris received in the space therefor between said legs;

said opposite flanges being spaced from each other a distancesubstantially equal to the diameter of said collar button whereby theattachment of said holder to said shirt defines a three point engagementbetween said holder and said shirt to prevent relative movementtherebetween.

4. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

the :frontmost of said legs being provided with a pair of oppositeflanges extending toward the rearmost of said legs whereby to capturetherebetween the collar button of a 'wearers shirt when said shirtcollar is received in the space therefor between said legs;

the rearmost of said legs being longer than the frontmost one andextending below the necktie supporting member.

5. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar lar is received in the space therefor between saidlegs;

said opposite flanges being spaced from each other a distancesubstantially equal to the diameter of said collar button whereby theattachment of said holder to said shirt defines a three point engagementbetween said holder and said shirt to prevent relative movementtherebetween;

the rearmost of said legs being longer than the frontmost one andextending below the necktie supporting member.

6. A neck-tie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

one of said legs being provided with means for capturing the collarbutton of a wearers shirt when said shirt collar is received in thespace therefor between said legs and for retaining said button betweensaid one leg and said shirt collar;

said shirt collar engaging member being provided with with means whichare adapted to hold said necktie supporting member in a forwardlyinclined disposition with respect to the wearers shirt when said holderis being worn.

7. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

the frontmost of said legs being provided with a pair of oppositeflanges extending toward the rearmost of said legs whereby to capturetherebetween the collar button of a wearers shirt when said shirt collaris received in the space therefor between said legs;

said legs being in non-parallel relation and each of said flangesgradually increasing in width so that the edge of each flange whichconfronts said rearmost leg is parallel theerto, whereby said flangesdefine means which prevent the collapse of said necktie supportingmember against the wearer.

8. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

the frontmost of said legs being provided with a pair of oppositeflanges extending toward the rearmost of said legs whereby to capturetherebetween the collar button of a Wearers shirt when said shirt collaris received in the space therefor between said legs;

said opposite flanges being spaced from each other a distancesubstantially equal to the diameter of said collar button whereby theattachment of said holder to said shirt defines a three point engagementbetween said holder and said shirt to prevent relative movementtherebetween;

said legs being in non-parallel relation and each of said flangesgradually increasing in width so that the edge of each flange whichconfronts said rearmost leg is parallel thereto, whereby said flangesdefine means which prevent the collapse of said necktie supportingmember against the wearer.

9. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member;

a spacer member connecting said shirt collar engaging member to saidnecktie supporting member rearwardly thereof and in spaced relationthereto;

said shirt collar engaging member comprising a pair of legs joined atthe upper ends thereof by a connecting bend and defining between saidlegs a shirt collar receiving space;

the frontmost of said legs being provided with a pair of oppositeflanges extending toward the rearmost of said legs whereby to capturetherebetween the collar button of a wearers shirt when said shirt collaris received in the space therefor between said legs;

the rearmost of said legs being longer than the frontmost one andextending below the necktie supporting member;

said legs being in non-parallel relation and each of said flangesgradually increasing in width so that the edge of each flange whichconfronts said rearmost leg is parallel thereto, whereby said flangesdefine means which prevent the collapse of said necktie supportingmember against the wearer.

'10. A necktie holder for use in conjunction with a pretied necktiecomprising:

a necktie supporting front member;

a shirt collar engaging rear member defined by an inverted U-shapedmember having a pair of nonparallel legs connected at the upper endsthereof by a bend;

said shirt collar engaging member being attached to the necktiesupporting member rearwardly thereof by a spacer member which connectsthe bottom of the frontmost of said legs to the bottom of the necktiesupporting member so that the latter is spaced from and forwardlyinclined with respect to the rearmost of said legs,

said frontmost leg having a pair of spaced opposite flanges which extendtoward said rearmost leg and confront the latter with outer edgesparallel thereto;

said flanges capturing therebetween the collar button of a wearers shirtwhen said necktie holder is worn by a wearer;

said flanges also defining means for preventing the collapse of saidnecktie supporting member from its forwardly inclined disposition.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 881,757 3/1908Winsor. 2,183,377 12/1939 Wolf 2481 X 2,798,226 7/ 1-957 Kanter 21533,147,492 9/ 1964 Pulitzer 2-153 FOREIGN PATENTS 931,323 7/1963 GreatBritain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

0 D. GRIFFIN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A NECKTIE HOLDER FOR USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PRETIED NECKTIECOMPRISING: A NECKTIE SUPPORTING FRONT MEMBER; A SHIRT COLLAR ENGAGINGREAR MEMBER; A SPACER MEMBER CONNECTING SAID SHIRT COLLAR ENGAGINGMEMBER TO SAID NECKTIE SUPPORTING MEMBER REARWARDLY THEREOF AND INSPACED RELATION THERETO; SAID SHIRT COLLAR ENGAGING MEMBER COMPRISING APAIR OF LEGS JOINED AT THE UPPER ENDS THEREOF BY A CONNECTING BEND ANDDEFINING BETWEEN SAID LEGS A SHIRT COLLAR RECEIVING SPACE; ONE OF SAIDLEGS BEING PROVIDED WITH MEANS FOR CAPTURING THE COLLAR BUTTOM OF AWEARER''S SHIRT WHEN SAID SHIRT COLLAR IS RECEIVED IN THE SPACE THEREFORBETWEEN SAID LEGS AND FOR RETAINING SAID BUTTOM BETWEEN SAID ONE LEG ANDSAID SHIRT COLLAR.